Getting out of the office on time is tough when there's always another task, project or drive-by boss request to knock out before you leave. Results from yesterday's reader poll show that over 25% of you get caught up in late day work that keeps you at the office longer than you expected, and almost 13% have given up leaving on time entirely! It's easy to lose a day checking email, going to meetings and putting out fires only to find you haven't gotten started on your Most Important Task at 5 or 6 or 7PM.

Ever flick your bleary eyes to the clock on your taskbar after a long hard day at the office typing …
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There is a better way.

When you're not clear and focused on your highest priority todos, getting out the door on a regular workday with a sense of accomplishment is impossible. "Rush hour" - that last hour (or two or three) of the day - becomes your stressful closing window to get to the stuff you thought you had all day to accomplish a mere 8 hours earlier.

Get one thing done first - THEN check your email

Author of Never Check Email in the Morning Julie Morgenstern suggests spending the first hour of your workday email-free. Choose one task - even a small one - and tackle it first thing. Accomplishing something out of the gate sets the tone for the rest of your day and guarantees that no matter how many fires you're tasked with putting out the minute you open your email client, you still can say that you got something done. Once you're "open for business" and paying attention to incoming requests, it's too easy to get swept away into the craziness. So get your day started off on the right foot, with just one thing done.

I'll be honest: I scoffed at Morgenstern's advice at first, because my work has so much to do with what's happening in my inbox. However, right now it's 9:30AM and I haven't yet checked my email. I'm not sure what's going on in there, but this article that's due tomorrow no matter what? It'll be done.

Deliberately choose your MIT

You've got a million things to do every day, but chances are there are 1 or 2 that are top priority. Even if you're not big on fancy-schmancy prioritized todo lists, you can probably identify one or two Most Important Tasks for a given day.

So here's your assignment.

It's Friday. Near the end of the day, deliberately decide on your MIT for Monday morning. Make sure it's tiny, achievable and important. Write it down and place it somewhere you will see it, even if it's a Post-It note on your keyboard. Monday morning when you arrive? That's the first thing you're going to do. No matter what.

Get your priorities straight

It doesn't feel like it - especially at the beginning of what seems like a long work day - but your time is limited. There are only a certain amount of hours in the day, but there are an unlimited number of things you could work on. Make sure you work on the most important tasks.

Recently we had to make a tough decision here at Lifehacker. For the past year we've prided ourselves on the fact that we responded to every email that appeared in the Lifehacker inbox. Over time, the amount of messages we receive each day kept increasing into the hundreds, and even though we'd applied every shortcut in the book to our process, it took us more and more time to get through the onslaught of messages.

When the amount of time we spent processing email started to cut into the the time we spend writing posts, something had to give. A post benefits all of Lifehacker's readership, where an email only benefits the recipient, and we've only got so much time. So, we decided to reduce our responses to only the messages which absolutely need one to focus on keeping the site fresh. This was a very difficult compromise to make, but posts are more important than email responses. It's as simple as that.

If you're having a hard time getting out the door on time or frequently find yourself panicked at the end of the day because something critical is undone, it's time to reprioritize and reshuffle. Figure out what matters most and focus on that first thing. Some things may have to fall by the wayside, but you want to get the most bang for your time buck.

Make post-work appointments

If your kid has to be picked up at daycare at 5:30, or your buddy's waiting for you at the bowling alley, or you've got reservations with your other half for dinner, chances are your butt's going to be up and out of your desk chair on time. Make dates with yourself or friends for the gym, a movie, or simply dinner at home at 6 sharp to get yourself out the door on time. Carpooling with a co-worker will not only cut off your day at a predetermined time, it'll save you money on gas and tolls, too.

Wrap-up alerts

One last "get out of the office on time" trick: decide what time you're going to leave at the beginning of the day, and set a "wrap-up" timer. If Love is cooking you dinner tonight and you need out the door at 6PM, set an alert to go off at 5PM, 5:30, 5:45 and 5:55 (more, if necessary) saying "Hey! Time to wrap up and get home!" Prepare yourself mentally to start closing up shop ahead of time so you're not surprised when your spouse calls at 6:30 wondering where the heck you are.

What are your strategies for not letting office craziness sweep you away till 9PM at the office? Let us know in the comments or to tips at lifehacker.com.

Gina Trapani, the editor of Lifehacker, completed today's MIT by 10:30AM. Her semi-weekly feature, Geek to Live, appears every Wednesday and Friday on Lifehacker. Subscribe to the Geek to Live feed to get new installments in your newsreader.